Judges 13:2

THE ANGEL OF JEHOVAH ANNOUNCES SAMSON'S BIRTH

"And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not; but thou shalt conceive and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink no wine nor strong drink; and eat not any unclean thing: for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hands of the Philistines. Then the woman came and told her husband, saying; A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; and I asked him not whence he was, neither told he me his name: but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink; and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb to the day of his death."

"A man of Zorah" (Judges 13:2). "This was a Danite city fifteen miles west of Jerusalem and fifteen miles east of the Philistine city of Ekron."[11]

"No wine nor strong drink ... nor any unclean thing" (Judges 13:4). "The words `strong drink' must mean `beer,' because there were no distilled liquors in ancient times ... the Philistines used an awesome amount of beer."[12]

"Thou shalt conceive and bear a son" (Judges 13:5). Boling rendered this as, "Actually, you are already pregnant and bearing a son."[13] However, no other writer whose works we have consulted agrees with this.

This annunciation to the wife of Manoah was similar to the annunciations to Hannah, Elizabeth, and the Virgin Mary, except that this annunciation was made by the Angel of Jehovah, whereas the annunciation to Mary was by the angel Gabriel. The author of this account is careful to let the reader know from the first the true identity of the Angel of Jehovah, although Manoah does not catch on to this until later in the narrative.

"The child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb" (Judges 13:5). The Mosaic Law concerning Nazarites is found in Numbers 6, but the rules given there apply to persons taking the Nazarite vow for a limited number of days or weeks. These were called `Nazarites of days.' A Nazarite for life was called a perpetual Nazarite, of which class Samuel, Samson and John the Baptist are mentioned in the Bible. It is of interest that Paul became a Nazarite of days (Acts 21:26).

"The woman came and told her husband" (Judges 13:6). There is a great deal of repetition in this chapter; and Judges 13:6,7, merely repeat for the benefit of Manoah what was said to the woman by the `man of God.' A very small variation is that Manoah's wife added the words that the promised son would be a Nazarite `until the day of his death,' a fact implied but not stated earlier.